Clyde Mueller/The New Mexica The New Mexico Board of Nursing has placed Santa Fe Community College’s nursing program on conditional status for two years because of below-par scores on licensing exams. The college, which often has touted the success of its nursing program, cannot accept new students until its graduates’ test results improve or it wins a pending appeal to remove the conditional rating. The Board of Nursing based its rating on results on the National Council Licensure Examinations, which the college’s nursing graduates take to become licensed nurses. The board has established a pass rate of 80 percent on the tests, but students at the college averaged between 72 percent and 79 percent in the last three years. “It’s really more of a watching than a warning,” said Demetrius Chapman, executive director of the New Mexico Board of Nursing. “We usually have one or two colleges around the state that are placed on conditional. The next level is [for the program] to be closed.” But, he said, “I don’t think this program is in danger of closing.” Community college leaders said they plan to ask the board to change the nurse educator online jobs program’s status from conditional to “full approval with warning” during an April 21 board meeting. They are basing their appeal on improved test scores for the first quarter of 2017. Eighty-six percent of students in the associate degree program and 90 percent in the bachelor’s degree program passed the most recent licensure exam. “We are going to ask that our status be reconsidered sooner rather than later,” said college President Randy Grissom.